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Cornflakes_91 wrote:Maybe we could use stored metadata to create some semblace of "follow up" missions.

For example data like the general area, what enemies encountered, general performance etc to determine if someone should be hired again for some mission that has some similar border conditions.

"This person did well when protecting our transport against the guristas in the northern asteroid field, we should hire him for our attack on the gurista base"

Maybe no "epic" arcs would emerge from that, but at least something resembling a continouscarc.

Yeah, one option in my favorite mission system Escape Velocity was the use of titles - arbitrary bits linked optionally with a character string - as enabler for mission.
Example: after successfully delivering a Galactiv Express parcel in an introductory mission, you get the title of "accredited Galactic Express Agent". Routine delivery missions are available to persons with this title. Some mission disguised as a routine mission actually has a more complex story (e.g. successfully repeal an attack by pirates) and set another title "trustworthy GE agent" (which is however not explicitely communicated to the player, so he does not know about it) that enables higher risk / higher reward missions.
This is certainly feasible and extensivle to arbitrary info (links to factions, companies, locations, achievements, ...) and using boolean conditions on titles allow even more flexibilty (must be a "trustworthy GE agent" but not a "friend of ups").
Some titles could be pre-defined and usable for all modders, while a mod may define its own titles to allow for its own mission tree that cannot happen "in the wrong order" and without the other assests of the mod.

Note: See much higher in this thread on how to make scripted missions compatible with a no-spawning universe.

I reread this thread and I pondered on it for quite a while, and I had some ideas

Ultimately, LT IS a single player game, and the player should have an opportunity to feel special, but not as though they are “the chosen one”. These are “Real” missions, not just a list of subtasks to check off.

Within an LT universe, there are some, sometimes many, never all NPCs who for whatever reason want Something about the world to be different. They want to change the status quo significantly.

A Mission then, is helping them achieve this goal.

If the player decides to help, this triggers a special “Mission” console which doesn’t tell the player how to accomplish the goal nor are there “completion” parameters for given tasks. Instead it is a workstation with: A list of advice for things that should probably be done if they want to succeed; An intelligence interface to centralize relevant information found in-world and allow the player to make sticky notes; A command center to centralize the coordination of assets and NPCs (The player would decide what goes in here).

Missions come in a various but limited number of types, each type comes with a different list of suggestions, divided into Intel,Resources,Allies,Dangers. Lets use a standard, cliche Mission type. The NPC you talked to wants to Bring down Empire X.
While tasks in this mission are not discrete quests, it has concrete objectives. In this case, said objective may be [Take Planets XYZABCD away from them][See their total attackpoint capabilities reduced by 90% from time of mission start]
So the list of advice for this mission type would include Art of War things like

Gathering Intel

Gaining and keeping allies

Finding weakpoints

Staying under the radar

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy

Open Combat vs Attrition vs Precision Attacks

Siege Warfare & Controlling Wormholes

Watching your back & traitors

Balancing Defense and Offense

Going in for the kill

Other Mission types include

Build an Empire

“Defend us”

Market Dominance

Set up tourism to an exotic location

Genocide

“Find and bring home my dead child” (esque)

Cause a War between 2+ factions

Stop a War

etc...

The success or failure of the mission is really left up to the player. They’re not Guaranteed to succeed, but if they do they gain a status in the universe “Renown” for having accomplished the mission.

It’s not complete by any means but it might stir some renewed discussion

Also, I had an idea for a true Emergent campaign. However, it’s a secret campaign that a player would have to discover on their own, and would be unique to each seed. I will be PMing a few people details on it. However, for the rest of you, a hint: Odyssey

If you're trying to fill the multiverse, and you're not willing to consider the entire creative output of humanity as a starting point, you're wasting your time.